Hollow roller bearings have heretofore been used successfully but in a limited number of applications. The following U.S. Patents are at least partially indicative of the state of the art in this area.
______________________________________ Title Inventor ______________________________________ 3,765,071 Method of Forming a Willard L. Bowen Roller Bearing of Superior Runout Characteristics 3,930,693 Full Complement Bearing Willard L. Bowen Having Preloaded Hollow Rollers 4,002,380 Roller Bearing of Willard L. Bowen Superior Run-Out Characteristics 4,232,914 Hollow Roller Tapered Willard L. Bowen Bearing ______________________________________
These patents are at least indicative of the history of development of hollow roller bearings and set forth to several advantages associated therewith. The hollow roller bearings disclosed by the patents, however, are subject to a serious disadvantage in use. The customer must initially press the inner race onto the shaft or the like, grind the race to the proper diameter for an interference fit, and thereafter the shaft with the inner race thereon is assembled within the rollers and the flanged outer race to provide a desired preload. This method of assembly is of course quite time consuming and cumbersome with the bearings being shipped to the customer in separate parts.
It is the general object of the present invention to provide an improved hollow roller bearing and method of making and mounting the same wherein the bearings may be shipped and efficiently mounted on a shaft or the like as an assembled unit.